Abstract

Sisay Girma, Girma Zewde, Ketema Tafess, and Tariku Jibat*

A qualitative survey was conducted to assess the awareness on food borne zoonoses and its relation with veterinary public health services in Addis Ababa and its surrounding districts. Structured questionnaire was used in the study. Factors like educational level, information source, and profession, were considered for possible explanation of the results. The most frequently known zoonotic diseases were rabies (100%), followed by anthrax (94.27%), teniasis (89.06%), tuberculosis (88.54%), brucellosis (49.48%), and mentioned others (31.25%). The importance of veterinary public health in the overall public health institutions was assessed by looking at the responses to questions and it is shown that the public health institutions do not yet see the need of having veterinarians in the public health. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the awareness and use of inspected and packed animal products is relatively low, which exposes the people to risk of food borne pathogens. The authors would like to recommend to the government and concerned bodies to raise the awareness of the public, using the appropriate communication media, and to strengthen the contribution of public health veterinarians in the public health services for better community health.